just to make you feel a bit better, i had lead poisoning when i was small...i had a deposit of it in my wrist that was visible with an x-ray!!!!!! :( ! and i am a fine, fully functioning adult with a really high iq, so, by all means test and treat, but don't feel like it's totally the end of the world <3

Yeah, it was a huge investment for us. We were buying jugs of water at the grocery store for a month or so and finally broke down. I hope everything works out however which way, that would be so concerning!

This is reminding me that I need to take our baby for the test. When Ginger had hers a few years ago she wasn't happy obviously (this was at a lab type place and not the pediatrician's so she didn't have any particular associations), but I had her face-in in the bjorn and nursed her the whole time, and she kind of resigned herself to it pretty quickly. It is stressful though!

Sven's lead test from his one-year appointment came back and he tested at 2 ug/dL. That doesn't seem high (it's in the "low" range of 0-2, but on the edge of "moderate" which is 2-6), but our pediatrician was really freaking me out about it and saying that it was really concerning. The thing is we have practically no risk factors! Our house is from 1986 and we have remodeled almost everything so paint, flooring, all surfaces are new. Our drinking water is RO filtered. We don't really have any vinyl/PVC toys or accessories. We don't live near industrial sites or have hobbies that would put us at elevated risk. The only thing I have been able to think of are lead being tracked in on our shoes from outside and our brass keys.

I guess what I'm really asking is whether 2 ug/dL is cause to freak out. I know lead poisoning is a terrible thing, but I'm assuming it's kind of just part of urban life, too.

Mandycoot, what did your ped recommend doing? We've been doing a multivit and iron to hopefully hinder absorption. We are testing our water and hoping that L's arms are skinny enough to find a vein for a test at her 15 month appt next week.

So sorry Sven's levels came back elevated.

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

I can see that borderline moderate is a different animal from middle of the road low or zero. I do think that you ped should be putting this in perspective and giving you a good way forward.

Supposedly lead levels go down after 18m when kids put less in their mouths, bc a lot of these numbers are due to soil, paint etc which is ingested. So hopefully as with Ada Sven's numbers will be back to low or zero on retesting.

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

My pediatrician didn't really offer much advice other than directing us to a "healthy interiors consultant." It's frustrating -- she freaked us out but didn't offer any real suggestions. Basically she said "don't let it get any higher" which is difficult to do if you don't know where the exposure comes from!

But I've done enough research on my own now to know we don't have any major risk factors so I kind of don't want to spend the money on a consultant to be told he's just ingesting contaminated soil or something. We're trying to be careful tracking dirt in and will retest in six months. Now that he's walking and doesn't have his mouth six inches from the ground at all times I'm hoping things improve on their own.

I finally worked up the time and ambition to get Malka tested this past weekend, then discovered in the early afternoon on Saturday when I picked her up after work and when I wanted to call and get an appointment that all the testing places are open 7-11am on Saturdays (when I'm at work and couldn't have done it) and closed Sundays. Argh. Will try again!

I hope either Leela miraculously doesn't mind the MD or the stick and/or that the MD sees she's still too chubby and acquiesces to the easier test. I wish our peds did testing in-house. Going somewhere else to test a toddler is such a hassle. Didn't think to ask about whether they did their own testing when we were picking out a pediatrician.

She isn't going to acquiesce to the easier test, she is going to tell us to wait to 18 months. She gave me a long spiel about how it is unreliable, even after I quoted your very fine sources about how widely accepted it is. Barf. And I am really nervous because of our stupid water situation and so I want the test done asap.

The Quest in Clifton (on Allwood Road) is really good with kid blood draws but that isn't super-local for you.

Good luck with the tests! I hope you can find a window to get it done!

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

A few of the local peds here that are a bit more holistic minded don't do it unless there is a reason to suspect lead exposure, esp because any exposure there is tends to resolve once the kiddo isn't crawling around eating dirt any more.

Our ped went over risk factors and said she hadn't seen many cases - one was of a woman using a lead crystal container to make her child's formula in.

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

They couldn't find a vein on my chubette's chubby arms, so they'll try again next time. Our Dr said that she tests kids from all over the area and hasn't seen high numbers from our area, and so she doesn't have concerns about our water being contaminated enough to have an effect on L. And besides, we are already giving her a multi with Fe, which is what would be ordered if her numbers came back under 15

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.